KONKANI SHOW BY "KONKANI KULLVAR KUWAIT.

On last Friday 20th of this month at Indian Community Senior Girls School, Salmiya, I had an opportunity to witness the Konkani function organized by our Managalorean brothers and sisters under “KONKANI KULLVAR KUWAIT” to mark the Konkani Day, that is, the day on which Konkani was accorded official recognition and introduced into the Eight Schedule of Indian Constitution. It was well attended by a good number of people, Mangaloreans and Goans. The day was fittingly dedicated to the late Konkan Kogul Wilfy Rebimbus .

The day's programe consisted besides other items, of songs, play and honouring of renowned melodious Konkani Singer Gratian D’Souza.

The programe was started with the lighting of traditional lamp. Then the convenor of Kullvar Lancy Pinto Nayak welcomed the gathering.

The first part consisted of songs in which Joylene, Jovita and others participated. The singing part gave a very good punch for the function.

The second part consisted of honouring of the renowned and melodious singer Gratian D’Souza

The third part consisted of a Play scripted by Shan Bondel and directed by Lancy Pinto Nayak. The major roles played in the Play “Shivonn” by Ida D’Silva and Bondel were of excellent caliber. Their ending part together as husband and wife was of highest degree giving a very professional touch in a real artistic manner. Ida’s dress code as commoner house wife gave genuine touch to the scene reminding me of those golden days of Konkani Stage artiste Shalini who under the direction of great J.P. Souzalin used to wear such “Kapod”. Young boy Jeremiah Vaz played his role of a naughty boy well.

The honouring ceremony of melodious singer Gratian D’Souza was beautifully done in a true tradional manner. Mr. Gratian is the singer of very high caliber having very sweet and attractive voice. Currently in Kuwait among Konkani singers there is no one having as melodious voice as he is having. He is the pride of Konkani Stage and he deserved this honour even though it came very late.

Fr. Harry a young and youthful Mangalorean priest attached to Kuwait Catholic Church rendered a nice song of course to the surprise of the audience. A very charismatic and humble priest, without pride and arrogance, Fr. Harry during his brief speech to the audience on the greatness and importance of mother tongue Konkani, in a Tagorean manner he highlighted the greatness of one’s mother tongue and thereby showed his very high literary background. When I was informed that he was a writer and author of very high caliber back at home in India, I was surprised why he is wasting his time in Kuwait where intellectual capacity of his colleagues and faithfuls is very poor. In such a situation, he will never be able to promote his intellectual work. For such intellectuals you need very good surrounding and colleagues. He will never find such around him.

Opening ceremony

Opening song

A scene in the Play

Honouring ceremony of Gratian D'Souza

Right, Fr. Harry seen singing a song.

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Kuwait.

A.VERONICA ON VALMIKI FALEIRO'S ARTICLE.

The Little Known Patriot. By Vakmiki Faleiro.
The above article written by Mr. Valmiki Faleiro and appeared in this forum on 25th of this month is excellent. It opens out lot of happenings during the Portuguese rule in Goa and I am sure for the generation born after 1961 this article will help to know the history of Goa.

It started with the following para:

“Genuine freedom fighters never blew their own trumpets. They did not hanker after Tamrapatras and state largesse. The dubious variety that did brought a bad name to all freedom fighters (FFs). Fakes would probably outnumber the authentic ones in the state list of registered FFs. Many of the former would barely be in their early teens in 1961. One recalls the attempt to swell the already contaminated list with 'FFs' from North India earlier this decade. Yet, there were some genuine FFs who were barely even known. Some died before 1961. Let's recall one, who died at Silvassa this day precisely 52 years ago, 25 Aug 1958, 51 years of age”.

While reading the above para of the article “The Little Known Patriot”, I remember how cheap many of our Goan Freedom Fighters are become. Their lust for money and Awards totally ignores their principle of fighting for Goa’s freedom. Pension and Tamrapatra were their only motto. At moment it looks to me that they got involved in Goa’s freedom movement only to gain financial and other benefits. Their involvement in Goa’s freedom movement was to make only a show of their cheapness, for this reason they are gone into deep sleep when politicians started looting and criminalizing Goa after December 1961.

Somewhere in 1959, opposite my house in Candolim, one fine morning a Police Jeep transporting Prisoners from Aguada Jail to Panjim stopped. Then prisoners handcuffed were alighted for passing Urine somewhere there under the shadow of the trees. Portuguese Paklo with Gun in his hand was escorting these prisoners. One of the prisoners was our neighbour Sitaram by name, he was freedom fighter. When my father noticed this, he became furious and on the same night at about 8.00 PM along with our Hindu neighbor demolished the small bridge - “Sankou” – on the main road. Water passing from one side of the paddy fields to the other side was blocked and traffic on the road was halted. In this operation Portuguese Pakles’ transport and movement was seriosuly affected. There was hue and cry everywhere in our locality, top Portuguese Pakles stationed at Aguada came to check the broken Sankou but none was caught. While my father was breaking that Sankou, about 100 meters away I was kept with a lighted Lanterrn in my hand with an instruction to throw it down in case I see first Jeep of Portuguese Pakles. This is to avoid getting caught by the Pakles. But nothing of that has happened and demolition of Sankou went on very smoothly. When I asked my father why he did this, he replied saying “we have to teach these Pakles a very good lesson. They have unnecessarily arrested our Sitaram and tortured him in the prison.

Later on after the exit of Portuguese from Goa and when Bandodkar was ruling Goa, every Ramu and Roghu went to Bahusaib for falsely asking them freedom fighters status for getting financial and other benefits. Somebody suggested my father’s name for this loot. But my financially poor father rejected it strongly saying “ my operation of Sankou demolition was not to get financial and other benefits but to oppose Portuguese Dadageri out of ideology”. How many of our freedom fighters involved in Goa’s freedom movement out of ideology? Many of them were “Chors” and “Krimidors”, for this reason as a whole they never enjoyed good respect in society. Very few Goa’s Freedom Fighters were good and for them I salute from Kuwait.

In another para as you indicated below, I like to comment also to justify your statement that how faulty the educational system was in Goa during those colonial days.

“Carlos Luis Martinho Nazario da Cruz, born 28 July 1907, was the eldest of 13 children from a middle-class Chandor family. He rebelled early in life. At 11,appearing for the Primary exam, together with his younger sister, he scored the highest but was denied the first rank by 'chivalrous' examiners. They gifted it to his sister, who scored second-highest in the class. Carlos is reported to have caused considerable commotion. In that early incident, perhaps, lay the seed of rebellion against fallacious Portuguese principles and morality - and the colonialists themselves”.

My elder brother at Escola Primaria for his Segundograu scored highest marks in the final exam. His Professor was having his Hindu girlfriend in the class who scored second highest marks. In order to please his student girlfriend, the Professor gifted my brothers marks to his girl friend and brought my brother to the second place. This type of nonsense was very rampant in Goan Portuguese schools then. Because of this incident my brother turned rebel against his own Professor.

Further you wrote the following in this para:

'He (Carlos) refused orders to remove portraits of Tagore, Gandhi and Nehru from his house. When asked why he had named his eldest daughter after the Rani of Jhansi, he named his next child after Nehru. When questioned again, he named the next one after Lenin!'

I still remember as a young boy in late fifties how dangerous it was to display Gandhi’s picture in our houses. My father brought a nice picture of Gandhi and put it on the wall for display and revered him as a great leader not only of Bharat but also of the World. One fine evening some Pakles from Aguada came to my house and while drinking water one of them noticed this picture and immediately told my father to remove it and burn it. They did not complain to the authorities concerned because of their friendship with my father otherwise may be my father would have been arrested for being Nationalist.

We at home were listening to Konkani programme on radio from Akaswani Bombay at 8.30 pm. At the end of this half an hour programme consisting of songs 20 minutes and 10 minutes news, the announcer used to say 'Jain Hind'. Without knowing much of this words, I also said Jai Hind but my father cautioned me not to use these words since danger lies in using them.

That was the strictness we faced in Goa during those days.

Valmiki Faleirobab, once again I congratulate you for writing beautifully on Goa’s freedom fighter Carmo. May his soul rest in peace. But I am sure, if he rises again from the grave. surely he will feel guilty for working against the Portuguese after seeing what our politicians are doing for his immaculate Goa. I am sure he will regret for driving away Portuguese from Goa. He would say 'Salazar I am sorry, your rule was better than the present rule in Goa. Your administrators were better than the current rascals'.

A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.